


Connection

by ryttu3k



Series: Simstagram Side Stories [5]
Category: The Sims (Video Games)
Genre: Family, Gen, Phone Calls & Telephones, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:27:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24500773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ryttu3k/pseuds/ryttu3k
Summary: Lilith updates Caleb on a new discovery.
Relationships: Caleb Vatore & Lilith Vatore
Series: Simstagram Side Stories [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1643032
Kudos: 9





	Connection

**Author's Note:**

> Written as an expansion of my [Simstagram](https://www.instagram.com/calebvvatore/) account for Caleb.

_Forgotten Hollow  
14th May 2018, 11:48 AM_

Caleb answers the phone so quickly Lilith barely hears the dial tone.

He's smiling. She can hear it in his voice, the way he says, "Hey." She knows her twin like the back of her hand, can tell that he's trying to sound nonchalent, trying to stay relaxed, but that her call is like water to a man dying of thirst.

Or like blood, she supposes.

"Hey yourself," she says, and she can't hide her own smile. "Okay, when I got online, my Simsta notes _exploded_."

"I can't help it! I can't just shove my phone in your face to show you cool shit!" he says with a laugh.

She's giggling, nodding. "Yeah, yeah. Maybe I should leave more often," she teases. "So, uh, what's up?"

He laughs; it's an innocuous start to their first proper conversation in nearly a month. "Not much. Uh, I had my appointment a couple of days ago - I told you about that, the group session -"

"Yeah, yeah - those two younger ones - I asked someone, he says he doesn't know them, but he hasn't been around for a while -"

"You've got someone to talk to?" he says softly, and there's both caution and a bit of comfort in his voice. "Uh, is he cool?"

_Is he a vampire too?_

_Does he kill people?_

_Is he like Them or like Us?_

She laughs again, because Raylan was one of the topics she wanted to talk about the most. And oh, she still can't believe it, has to every time she sees his face; it's wild, ridiculous, kind of amazing.

"Yeah, he's cool," she says, and takes a moment to consider the best way to drop the bombshell. "He's our ancestor."

There's a pause, and she can practically see the cogs turning in his head. "Figuratively?" he asks curiously.

"Nope. Literally. He's Nonno's paternal grandfather."

(Lilith kind of wishes she could see the expression on Caleb's face right now.)

"Okay," he says, and he sounds completely lost, "Just - just to clarify. Is he a vampire or, like, a ghost?"

She exhales, just out of habit. "Vampire. So, uh, turns out we have vampiric ancestry. And so do Nonno and Dad. Um..." Scratching at her hairline, she recalls the family tree she and Raylan had worked out together. "So Nonno was born in Milan in 1938, right? And he moved here after marrying Nonna in 1964. And his Dad was Alessio Vatore, born 1913 in Milan, died in the eighties in Windenburg. Right?"

"Right..."

"Well," she pushes on, "Alessio, our great-grandfather, his parents are Isabella and Guglielmo Vatore. Except they're _not_. In 1912, Isabella had an affair with a British vampire named Raylan Lange. She fell pregnant. When Alessio was born, he was a dead ringer for Raylan. He didn't want to get Isabella in trouble, so..."

Caleb is silent on the other end. "This guy is our great-great-grandfather?" he finally says cautiously, like he's poking a snake. "So like - wait, does that mean we're not actually Vatores?"

"Only in name," Lilith says, because she's tried 'Lilith Lange' and frankly doesn't think much of it. "Alessio was raised with the Vatore name, but not with Vatore blood, and so were we. And - yeah. He's our great-great-grandfather. I'm back at the manor now, living with our great-great-grandfather. Also it's weird as hell because he's a dead ringer for you. Or, well, I guess you're a dead ringer for him."

Finally, Caleb laughs; she can practically see him shaking his head. " _Man_."

"I know, right?" she says, and laughs as well.

He becomes serious suddenly, his tone dropping. "And just - he's cool? He's not like the others? I mean... you know."

She does, and she nods. "Yeah. He's... traditional, I guess," she says with a shrug. "But like, he's old, you know? Not as old as Straud, but he's older than Inna and Vladimir, and just a bit younger than Elle. He's been, well, doing the thing for a long time. But he doesn't mind the fruits. And he's defended me when Kat Cave got shitty at me the other day."

Caleb makes an uncomfortable sound. "How is it? Like - all of _them_. I mean -"

"I know," she says softly, and there's guilt settling behind her ribs, because Caleb has nightmares of her, too. "It's been... okay. Straud is... Straud. We're working on training a lot, and then I just get the hell out of there. I mostly just stick around with Inna and Elle and Vladimir, like how we used to. And now Raylan, too." A laugh escapes, and she shakes her head. "It's actually kind of funny. He's pretty instantly gone into Grandpa mode. I called him Gramps once as a joke and he actually looked a bit pleased."

"Back in my day," Caleb instantly croaks in imitation, "We had to get our plasma fruit from the top of a mountain we climbed uphill, both ways, in the snow!"

They're both giggling. Both lighthearted again, and Lilith is still giddy with the idea that she's found _family_. She's always had Caleb. Always had Mum and Dad, Nonna and Nonno on Dad's side, Nana and Papa on Mum's.

And now it's expanding. She has another connection, another root to grow from.

"Anyway, we need to meet up with Dad and Nonno some time," she finally says. "He really wants to meet you three. Nonno especially. Since, you know." A scratch at her hairline again. "He never knew his son, and Nonno would remember him best. He stayed just long enough to make sure that Isabella was okay and that the baby wasn't a vampire, and..." Lilith sighs. "Guglielmo was in his forties. Isabella was _twenty_. Apparently he could be nasty. He didn't want her to get in trouble."

"Yeah. Yeah, that's understandable." Caleb makes a thoughtful little noise, and there's a slight creak as he leans back against the sofa he's likely sitting on. "I'd better call Dad and let him know, and - I guess I can work as an intermediary? Can you get away at all?"

"If I want," she says evenly. "I'm not a prisoner. I mean, we shouldn't be talking a bunch - but they won't raise too many eyebrows if we go to Windenburg for an evening."

It's the middle of the day, broad sunlight streaming down, and she's standing firmly in the middle of the town square. The others, the ones who would look upon her strangely for contacting the rest of the world, are firmly asleep after the last night's hunt.

"We could say we were going hunting," she adds, voice soft.

Silence for a long, lingering moment. "Do you have to go hunting often?" he says, evenly as he can.

Lilith closes her eyes.

She has no choice. She has no choice. She has to keep telling herself that she has no choice, and it's true - if she wants to stay in Straud's good books, if she wants to keep up the pretence that she did only return to get stronger, then she has to hunt. She has to smile and make nice with Caleb's abusers. She has to stalk her prey, overpower them, sink her fangs into people's throats.

And she can't, can't keep lying to herself that the taste of hot, fresh blood in her mouth is so much better than plasma fruit juice or refrigerated and preserved blood from packs ever was.

"I have to," she finally says quietly, and vows to never tell Caleb how good it feels to have taste fresh blood. "Seriously. I do it as best I can, like - I ask for permission, I only drink a little, I fill up on juice first - it's like - like a blood donation. They can still walk afterwards. They're fine. It's not like I'm going after people and -"

"And leaving them on bathroom floors to die," Caleb says, and there's a tremor in his voice. "Yeah. Okay."

He knows the consequence of hunting parties better than most, she suspects. It almost hurts to mention it.

"Sorry," she whispers.

He makes a wordless noise. "Just be careful," he says, voice still so soft. "Don't let yourself get out of control."

"Yeah. Yeah, of course. Raylan is doing the same, just a little, filling up on juice first. He's changing. He's helping me, and I'm helping him." She smiles, trying to be reassuring over the phone. "So, hey! Wanna see a selfie?"

"Yeah!"

"Caleb, meet Gramps."

Silence for a few moments as she pulls the phone from her ear to send the photo, silence as he checks it on the other end. "Wow," he finally says as he replaces the phone to his ear, and shakes his head. "Wow, yeah, I see what you mean. I guess we know where Nonno and Dad got it from, too."

They weren't necessarily clear on where their appearance had come from. Guglielmo had been old when Nonno had come of age, the resemblance just hadn't been there.

They knew now, at least. Their appearance, the Vatore men, hadn't come from a Vatore at all.

"I'll send it to Dad," he adds, "And he can tell Nonno. We can sort something out. Man - another new family member!"

"Not many people get to say they're about to meet their great-great-grandkids," she says with a smile, tilts her head back into the sun. "I better go, I think I see movement. Love you, Cay."

"Love you too, Lili."

She hangs up with a smile, stays there for a few more moments, revelling in the sun again. And then she turns, starts back towards Wolfsbane Manor.

She has a family reunion to organise.


End file.
